Media captionThe attack targeted the gate of the police headquarters in Lashkar Gah

Twelve Afghan policemen and a child have been killed in a suicide attack in the southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah, officials say.

The attacker targeted the gate of the police headquarters in the city, the capital of Helmand province.

The Taliban said it had carried out the attack, which also wounded 12 people.

Responsibility for Lashkar Gah was recently handed to Afghan forces as part of a plan to return all security to local forces by the end of 2014.

High-profile raids

The attack reportedly targeted a joint Afghan police and army patrol at the compound.

Officials said that, in addition to those killed, 10 policemen and two civilians were injured.

The Afghan interior ministry said that it "strongly condemns the insurgents for this un-Islamic and inhumane action", adding that such attacks would "never weaken the determination of Afghan national police".